agle Peak, NE Face, “Solitary Confinement,” New Route

	Eagle Peak. Enlarge. © Brian Jenkins

While working on Mount Rainier during the summers of 2000 and 2001, I often noticed a prominent dihedral on the NE Face of Eagle Peak in the Tatoosh Range. The dihedral is on the north summit (5884ft), above a prominent NE facing gully visible on topographic maps. In September 2001, I crossed the Paradise River and climbed alone up slippery alder and talus to the NE gully. The gully led to the dihedral, which featured 5th class face climbing on the right side with solid rock for approximately 800ft almost directly to the north summit. To descend, I traversed south over the main summit (5958ft) and followed the trail to Longmire.

Grade II, 5.6

-Chris Simmons

In September 2006, I returned with a rope and small rack hoping to climb the ridge more directly, but instead climbed the long, westernmost gully on the south side of the peak. Low down it was mostly 3rd class with a few low-5th steps. As the gully opened up it changed to incredibly loose, flaky 45-degree slabs that were impossible to down-climb or protect and frustrating to climb. After 100 feet of this, I emerged from the gully onto the SW shoulder of the mountain. A short pitch of 5.7 and a couple hundred feet of class 3 led to the summit (Grade II). Both routes are looser than any other route I have climbed anywhere and are not really recommended. Under the right conditions they could make good winter routes.

-Dan Hilden

	Dragontail Peak. © Ross Peritore

I was nervous about dropping in blind, not knowing the snow conditions, but these fears were alleviated in the first few turns as conditions were perfect. The snow was soft but not deep, a sort of chalky, punchy powder. Each couloir is exposed in its own way. The fall line of the upper couloir slants left toward the north face, so stay right. I crossed a little wind lip about half-way down the upper couloir and continued. Between the upper and middle couloirs was an interesting rock/ice step that I negotiated gingerly before hopping the last few feet. The middle couloir is the steepest of the three and is perched directly above the mixed ice and rock section. At the top of the mixed section I anchored into a piton and made the first of three rappels with skis on. I'm glad I didn't try to climb the route because the ice runnels were thin. Not much ice to be found, just a lot of snow over rock. More great turns led down the third, Hidden Couloir, to a short exposed section above a rock band. Once past this, I could finally breathe easy.

The ski down from the lake in the afternoon sun was a mix of deep mushy glop, falling into holes, and generally trying to just stay on my feet. I reached my car around 4:30 p.m.

-Ross Peritore

-Sky Sjue

(The opening photo on this page shows Mount Logan and the Banded Glacier from the north.)

On May 4, 2006, Mason Stafford, Matt Schoenwald and I skied the South Face of Colfax Peak near Mount Baker. The line boasts about 1800ft of vertical, has a maximum steepness of maybe 45 degrees and has a beautiful south-facing position. Around 4 a.m. we left our car at the snowline at 2700ft on the Schriebers Meadow road. Conditions were perfect, frozen and clear. By 9:30 a.m. we were in the summit saddle waiting for conditions to be just so. A short section of cramponing brought us to the summit at 9355ft.

The ski descent down the steep south face was as good as it gets. Avy hazard zero; weather perfect; incline 45 degrees; snow conditions, white corn. By noon we were back down at the car. A perfect day.

-Martin Volken

	Sky Sjue on rappel, top of Ice Cliff Glacier. Enlarge. © Casey Ruff

Mount Stuart, Ice Cliff Glacier, Ski Descent

On May 10, 2006, Sky Sjue and I climbed and skied the Ice Cliff Glacier route on Mount Stuart. We left the car near the Stuart Lake trailhead shortly after 1 a.m. and began an uneventful approach up Mountaineer Creek. We arrived in the basin just in time to see a Volkswagen sized chunk of ice calve off the ice cliff. From the terminal moraine we kept to the left, staying close to the rocks to avoid objective danger from above. We ascended a steep but continuous ramp through the ice cliff. Sky noted how filled in this ramp was compared to previous attempts to ski the route. When we topped out into the afternoon sun, the snow in the upper couloir had begun to soften. We decided to ski from the false summit, minimizing the risk of having the sun move off the route and making it too icy for a safe descent. After one short rappel over the cornice into the top of the couloir, Sky made the first few turns around the corner while I flaked the rope. The snow was nearly perfect, allowing for confident, continuous skiing through the upper couloir. As we approached the ice cliff, the snow softened considerably, resulting in incredible skiing on the ramp through the ice cliff and for the remainder of the route. We arrived back at the car after 17 hours on the go, satisfied with a great day in the Stuart Range.

-Casey Ruff

The next day we skied to Boot Lake and climbed toward Little Sister Peak. Mark skied the south couloir of Little Sister (6,600ft) and we all skied from the summit of Cinderella (6,480ft) onto the Green Creek Glacier. We crossed a col just west of Little Sister and another col just east of Hayden Peak to the pocket glacier between Skookum Peak and South Twin Sister. Crossing the divide to the Sisters Glacier proved harder than expected. With a thin rack we climbed 40m of 4th or low 5th class rock and 100m+ of 60-degree ice and mixed terrain to the crest. Instead of the simple ski descent we expected, the NE side of the ridge required 100m+ of rapelling. After much delay and hassle due to our short ropes and sparse gear, we finally reached our campsite on the Sisters Glacier at 2:00 a.m.

Day three was incredibly hot and we were incredibly tired. Looking up, we realized we had crossed the ridge several hundred meters farther SE than intended and had rappelled down the tallest aspect of a 6720ft+ buttress SE of South Sister Peak. A little reconnaissance proved that our intended ascent would have required a mandatory 5th class pitch; our actual line was the best possible. Since we had left our ropes and two cams on the rappels the night before, it meant that our intended climbs and descents of South and North Twin Sister Peaks had to be scrubbed. We spent the day skiing laps on the Sisters Glacier then crossed the NE ridge of North Twin and descended to the road near Dailey Prairie.

We traveled for 30 hours in three days, covered 26 miles, gained 12,000ft, descended 14,000ft, skied every permanent snowfield or glacier (except the pocket glacier NW of South Twin) and made significant descents across the range.

-Chris Simmons

	Looking down the Kautz Headwall. Enlarge. © Sky Sjue

Mount Rainier, Kautz Headwall, Ski Descent

On June 11, 2006, I climbed and skied the Kautz Headwall. I had found excellent conditions on another solo climb-and-ski mission to the nearby Wilson Headwall on June 7, along with a description of a June 6 Kautz Headwall ascent by fellow soloist Hannah Carrigan. Her description of a beautiful headwall climb topped by an interesting bit of rime ice over a rockband was intriguing. I left Paradise before midnight and approached via the Fan and the Turtle Snowfield. Conditions on the headwall were excellent for climbing and I reached Point Success by 10 a.m. I rested at Point Success until I felt like skiing. I wasn’t sure how to negotiate the rockband at the top, but when I skied to its edge it felt reasonable to sidestep with an ice ax placed for a mental self-belay. Below the rockband, the headwall featured excellent steep corn snow. This ski descent was one of my most rewarding from Mount Rainier for the sustained slopes and excellent snow conditions. A quick schuss down the Nisqually Glacier, a short sidestep toward Pan Point, and one last little descent returned me to the car by noon.

-Sky Sjue